Little sisters share Easter birthday, although they are two years apart

With the spring sun glowing, with flowers blooming in rainbow hues, with winds blowing soft and the sky stretching glorious blue, Easter arrives at a time that proclaims renewal and rebirth.

Or, in the case of the Berry family, birth.

So, here’s Meadow Rain Berry, 8 days old, a kissable little muffin in a soft pink sundress and pink Mary Jane booties. Her downy whirls of brown hair are feather soft and her button nose occasionally scrunches in the midst of her dreams.

And here’s Indika Moon Berry, 2 years old on April 8, older sister to Meadow, matching soft brown hair and dimples. She, too, was born on Easter.

“We weren’t big Easter celebrators before,” said mom Cindi, 22, holding a sleeping Meadow in the family’s Palisade home. “But now Easter’s going to be a big part of our family.”

Even though the girls’ birthdays won’t fall on Easter every year, the fact that they both were born on Easter has already become part of the family lore. And neither was supposed to.

Indika was due April 14, 2012, dad Paul, 27, explained, but Cindi was dilated to a two for three weeks before the due date and she and Paul had an appointment scheduled April 9 to discuss inducing.

But after going to the hospital about 9 p.m. Saturday night and 12 hours of labor, Indika arrived at 9 on Easter morning.

Meadow wasn’t due on Easter, either, and instead had a May 3 due date.

But after going to the hospital April 16, dilated to four, and nothing happened, Cindi’s mother convinced her to try again a week ago on Easter morning.

That time, she was dilated to seven “and doctors told us, ‘You’re having a baby today,’ ” Paul recalled.

At 6 p.m. Easter evening, Meadow was born, weighing a little more than 7 pounds.

A woman in Paul’s medical assisting externship program told him that the Easter bunny is sometimes regarded as a symbol of fertility in women, he explained, “and she said you really took that seriously!”

Even though the Easter births were a happy coincidence, and even though Paul and Cindi didn’t know beforehand that both their children would be girls — “they both had their legs crossed in the ultrasound,” Cindi explained — the Easter birth days are a reminder of the joys of new life and family, Paul said.

“They’re such a blessing,” Cindi said. “You almost get to live life over again with them, you get to enjoy what they’re doing.”